Darwen East Lancs

East Lancs was originally the shortened name of East Lancashire Coachbuilders, founded in 1934 in Blackburn. In 2007, they went into administration, and were saved by the Darwen Group who acquired them.

At the beginning of 2008, the owner of Darwen, Roy Stanley, set up Jamesstan Investments, an investment company who purchased fellow bus manufacturer Optare. In June 2008, a reverse takeover was performed, the new company now provides an expanded range of vehicles. The Darwen and East Lancs names were dropped in favour of Optare's.